As Tumblr user nichtwing said, in one of the best text posts I’ve ever come across in my years-long career on that beloved blue hellsite, “u know when u watch a movie and afterward you’re like ‘god the score was so fucken good who composed it’ and the answer is hans zimmer every time.” It’s a universal experience, I think—because Hans Zimmer is just that incredible.
German-born composer Hans Zimmer began his career in movies in the 1980s and has by now become a true staple of Hollywood soundtracks—establishing his own musical trademarks and distinctive sounds, as well as creating dozens of successful collaborations with directors (and winning pretty much every award imaginable from the Oscars to the Grammys).
All of which (he’s composed music for over 150 films), means that it’s very hard to pick the best of his works. There are just so many masterpieces. I have my own personal method of categorizing his works, one that I need to preface with the disclaimer that while I am a huge soundtracks enthusiast, I wouldn’t be able to talk music theory to you to save my life. So this has no aspirations to be “scientific” in any way, I’m going off of the feelings the soundtrack evokes, how well it blends seamlessly with the narrative on screen, how iconic and memorable it is, and how culture-defining—all of which are, of course, subjective, so please, drop your favorite Hans Zimmer scores below!
(I also feel the need to point out that my first selection included more than twenty-five scores and that narrowing it down to the eleven you’ll read here below was truly something.)
11. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
The first movie adapted from Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon Series, The Da Vinci Code’s soundtrack features both thrilling and epic pieces that accompany Tom Hanks’ Robert Langdon and Audrey Tatou’s Sophie Neveu as they race across Paris trying to decipher symbols and secret codes.
It’s probably not one of Zimmer’s most famous soundtracks overall, but it includes the magnificent “Chevaliers de Sangreal” track— which serves as both the swelling conclusion of the movie and the musical leitmotif of the other movies in the series, namely Angels & Demons and Inferno.
10. Pearl Harbour (2001)
A box office darling that was not as equally beloved by the critics, Pearl Harbour owns much of its pop culture impact to the soundtrack that Zimmer composed—so much so that the score was up for a Golden Globe during that year’s awards season, even though it lost it to Moulin Rouge.
Among the eight tracks that make up the soundtrack, the two most popular ones are definitely “Tennesse” and the whopping seven minutes long “Heart of a Volunteer”.
9. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Zimmer has a long history of composing incredible songs for animated movies—not to spoil what title is gonna be towards the top of this list but I mean, you probably already know—and the score for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which he composed together with musician Bryan Adams, falls right into that category.
“Homeland” and “I Will Always Return,” which are the opening and the closing of the movie respectively, are overall amazing pieces— even though nothing can top the absolute thrill when that moment in “Run Free” hits. You know which one.
8. Batman Begins (2005)
The Zimmer-Nolan collaboration is a true and tested one, and The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the great early examples of it—and also of that “unsettling, darker vibe” of Zimmer soundtracks, mixing electronic and classical instruments, which very much reflect the ambiance of the overall story.
The soundtracks for the first two movies were composed by Zimmer together with James Newton Howard—Zimmer focused more on the action sequences while Howard created music for the more dramatic moments of the story.
7. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Very few animated movies go as hard as The Prince of Egypt, DreamWorks’ retelling of the Biblical story of Moses and an overall stunning masterpiece from start to finish. Hans Zimmer worked on the score together with Stephen Schwartz, who composed the lyrics for the six songs that are featured in the film.
We all know “When You Believe,” both in the movie version and in the single version, sung by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. But can we talk about the incredible power of “The Plagues”?
6. Inception (2010)
This is one of the most iconic Christopher Nolan movies, with one of the most iconic Hans Zimmer soundtracks (it was nominated for Best Original Score at that year’s Academy Awards, but lost the Oscar to The Social Network).
Let’s all take a moment and appreciate that masterpiece that is “Time,” the most famous piece off of the score with a very fitting title—since Inception is arguably the true start of “Christopher Nolan goes on a quest to eviscerate the concept of time itself” journey.
5. Interstellar (2014)
Another Zimmer-Nolan collaboration, there is one specific element that makes Interstellar’s soundtrack so unique and haunting—its extensive use of the organ as one of the defining musical instruments of the entire score. Somehow, it’s the perfect sound to capture the vastness of space and the wonder and terror of the black hole Gargantua, through which the main characters travel.
“A Place Among the Stars” and “Detach” are particularly haunting, but the entire score seemingly spends its entire runtime building and building, until you get to these massive moments of release that are just an absolute wonder for your ears.
4. Dune (2021)
This soundtrack won Hans Zimmer his second Academy Award, and with good reason—since Dune itself is a complicated movie that is both sci-fi and fantasy, a true space opera, and the soundtrack masterfully walked that line between feeling futuristic and ancient, all at the same time.
And, boy oh boy, did it succeed. While all tracks have something amazing to them, my personal favorite is “Gom Jabbar”—the way it builds quietly, but oppressively, before exploding in that single, blood-curling cry when Paul finally masters his fear truly kept me awake at night in the weeks immediately after the movie’s release.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
I will admit that choosing the order for what I knew would be the top three Zimmer soundtracks was pretty hard, but I am fairly satisfied with the result. So, coming in third place is Pirates of the Caribbean—meaning the first three movies of the series, The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At World’s End. This is arguably one of Zimmer’s most iconic works, and the impact it had on pop culture is massive— it helped redefine what “pirate music” is—because I can guarantee that whenever you think about pirates, there’s a tiny corner of your brain bass boosting the “He’s a Pirate” theme (even though my personal favorite will probably always be “One Day”).
Plus, as Tumblr user ethelreds said, “nothing is impossible when the Pirates of the Caribbean theme plays in the background”. That’s got to be worth something.
2. Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott’s The Gladiator was one of the first movies where I truly started to notice the soundtrack—and what a soundtrack this one is. Another one of Zimmer’s iconic works, it helped shape—not only the movie—but also the overall expectations for scores for period dramas.
Plus, The Gladiator score features the absolute masterpiece that is “Now We Are Free”—widely believed to be one of Zimmer’s best works of his entire career.
1. The Lion King (1994)
How could the first spot not go to The Lion King? It’s one of Disney’s most iconic works as well as Hans Zimmer’s first Oscar—and sure, 90s baby nostalgia might play a big part in this ranking, but there’s no denying the chills that grip you whenever “…To Die For” starts.
And Zimmer arguably even surpassed himself when he returned to Disney for the live-action version of The Lion King in 2019—the most recent versions of both “Stampede” and “Remember” are truly majestic, there really are no other words to describe them.
So, what do you think? What’s your favorite Hans Zimmer score of all time?
(featured image: Syncopy Films)
